Independent co-delivery of model actives with different degrees of hydrophilicity from oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions stabilised by solid lipid particles via a Pickering mechanism: a-proof-of-principle study

Georgia I Sakellari; Ioanna Zafeiri; Aleksandra Pawlik; Daniel Kurukji; Phil Taylor; Ian T Norton; Fotis Spyropoulos

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2020.11.021

Independent co-delivery of model actives with different degrees of hydrophilicity from oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions stabilised by solid lipid particles via a Pickering mechanism: a-proof-of-principle study

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2021 Apr:587:644-649. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.11.021. Epub 2020 Nov 9.

Authors

Georgia I Sakellari¹, Ioanna Zafeiri², Aleksandra Pawlik², Daniel Kurukji², Phil Taylor³, Ian T Norton², Fotis Spyropoulos²

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. Electronic address: gis823@bham.ac.uk.
² School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
³ Formulation Technology Group, Syngenta Ltd, Jealott's Hill International Research Centre, Warfield, Bracknell RG42 6EY, UK.

PMID: 33220956
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2020.11.021

Abstract

Hypothesis: The development of vehicles for the co-encapsulation of actives with diverse characteristics and their subsequent controllable co-delivery is gaining increasing research interest. Predominantly centred around pharmaceutical applications, the majority of such co-delivery approaches have been focusing on solid formulations and less so on liquid-based systems. Simple emulsions can be designed to offer a liquid-based microstructural platform for the compartmentalised multi-delivery of actives.

Experiments: In this work, solid lipid nanoparticle stabilised Pickering emulsions were used for the co-encapsulation/co-delivery of two model actives with different degrees of hydrophilicity. Lipid particles containing a model hydrophobic active were prepared in the presence of either Tween 20 or whey protein isolate, and were then used to stabilise water-in-oil or oil-in-water emulsions, containing a secondary model active within their dispersed phase.

Findings: Solid lipid nanoparticles prepared with either type of emulsifier were able to provide stable emulsions. Release kinetic data fitting revealed that different co-delivery profiles can be achieved by controlling the surface properties of the lipid nanoparticles. The current proof-of-principle study presents preliminary data that confirm the potential of this approach to be utilised as a flexible liquid-based platform for the segregated co-encapsulation and independent co-release of different combinations of actives, either hydrophobic/hydrophilic or hydrophobic/hydrophobic, with diverse release profiles.

Keywords: Co-delivery; Co-encapsulation; Hydrophobic or hydrophilic actives; Pickering stabilisation; Solid lipid nanoparticles; Water–in–oil or oil-in-water emulsions.